Derek was a much bigger asshole than Nell gave him credit for, but this was one of the few times when he wasn't being a jerk. At least, he wasn't being a jerk on purpose.
No, he was looking for a cold place that would smell like metal and be near the city. He pulled up a list of places in the area and started to delete them, one after another, as he eliminated as many as he could. It would be a lengthy process.
He knew that, although she had agreed with him earlier, she didn't actually want to kill anyone. She probably even felt bad for the the men Derek had killed the other day--even the monsters who, given the chance, would probably have raped her without a second thought.
That didn't sit well with Derek, who had dealt with mercenaries before and knew them to be generally uncultured and conscious-less. There were always a few diamonds in the rough, but they were too few in number to sway The Afterdark's opinion of mercenaries as a whole.
He breathed and eliminated more addresses. He heard Nell knock on the door. He rolled his chair over to door and knocked back. "Go away, Fixer."
Her knocking stopped. Derek waited by the door a moment longer to make sure she didn't try to get his attention again. When she didn't after two minutes, he went back to his address elimination.
Those mercenaries had really bothered him. Nell Conrad, The Fixer, was a neutral party: person with powers who was neither a hero nor a villain. Neutrals were not supposed to be abused by either side, no matter who they fraternized with and when. It was an extreme breach of conduct for a villain like Seer to send his filthy mercenaries to wrangle the girl. If it had been a girl with no powers, Derek would never have cared. Seer would have gotten away with it entirely, and his mercs would have gotten away with their own sick transgressions.
No, he was looking for a cold place that would smell like metal and be near the city. He pulled up a list of places in the area and started to delete them, one after another, as he eliminated as many as he could. It would be a lengthy process.
He knew that, although she had agreed with him earlier, she didn't actually want to kill anyone. She probably even felt bad for the the men Derek had killed the other day--even the monsters who, given the chance, would probably have raped her without a second thought.
That didn't sit well with Derek, who had dealt with mercenaries before and knew them to be generally uncultured and conscious-less. There were always a few diamonds in the rough, but they were too few in number to sway The Afterdark's opinion of mercenaries as a whole.
He breathed and eliminated more addresses. He heard Nell knock on the door. He rolled his chair over to door and knocked back. "Go away, Fixer."
Her knocking stopped. Derek waited by the door a moment longer to make sure she didn't try to get his attention again. When she didn't after two minutes, he went back to his address elimination.
Those mercenaries had really bothered him. Nell Conrad, The Fixer, was a neutral party: person with powers who was neither a hero nor a villain. Neutrals were not supposed to be abused by either side, no matter who they fraternized with and when. It was an extreme breach of conduct for a villain like Seer to send his filthy mercenaries to wrangle the girl. If it had been a girl with no powers, Derek would never have cared. Seer would have gotten away with it entirely, and his mercs would have gotten away with their own sick transgressions.
